[75a - 55 lines; 75b - 33 lines]

1)[line 4]מצרי שניMITZRI SHENI- a second-generation Egyptian (or Edomite) convert (see Background to Kidushin 74:23). According to Tana Kama, all Egyptian converts who have relations with a Bas Yisrael render her unfit to marry a Kohen or to eat Terumah. According to Raban Shimon ben Gamliel, since the widow of a second-generation Egyptian is permitted to marry a Kohen, he does not render a Bas Yisrael unfit for the Kehunah.

2)[line 6]מכהן גדול באלמנהKOHEN GADOL B'ALMANAH

See Background to Kidushin 74:5.

3)[line 12]"... בנים אשר יולדו להם""... BANIM ASHER YIVALDU LAHEM"- "[You shall not reject an Edomite; for he is your brother; you shall not reject an Egyptian; because you were a stranger in his land.] The children who are born to them in their third generation may enter into the congregation of HaSh-m" (Devarim 23:8-9).

4)[line 26]באלמנת עיסהALMANAS ISAH

(a)An Almanas Isah is the widow of a person who is of questionable lineage. For example, a man threw a Get to his wife and there was a doubt as to whether it landed closer to her (in which case she was divorced) or closer to him (in which case she was not divorced). He then died, leaving her with a doubt as to whether she was an Almanah or a Gerushah. A Kohen then married her, fathering a son who was a Safek Chalal. The son's widow is an example of the Almanas Isah about whom Rebbi Yehoshua testified that she should be permitted to marry a Kohen because of the Sfeik Sfeika (double doubt) (RASHI to Kesuvos 14a DH Al Almanas Isah; Rashi ibid. DH Trei Sefeikei cites other examples).

(b)"Isah" is the translation of dough (RASHI to Kesuvos 111a DH k'Isah). Just as many different ingredients are mixed into dough and are indiscernible from one another, there are many doubts mixed into the lineage of this woman. Alternatively, "Isah" can refer to the doubt that is associated with her lineage (RASHI to Kesuvos 14a DH Isah)

5)[line 32]ספק ספיקאSFEIK SFEIKA- a "double doubt"; she is one step removed from her husband, whose lineage is in doubt

6)[line 46]דתפסD'TAFAS- that he seized [possessions of the Arus]

7)[line 53]עד שישתקע שם עבודת כוכבים ממנוAD SHE'YISHTAKE'A SHEM AVODAS KOCHAVIM MIMENU- until his association with idol worship is forgotten (lit. sinks)

75b----------------------------------------75b

8)[line 2]כותים גירי אריות הםKUSIM GEIREI ARAYOS HEM

See Background to Kidushin 72:5.

9)[line 8]"ובת כהן כי תהיה אלמנה וגרושה וזרע אין לה...""U'VAS KOHEN KI TIHEYEH ALMANAH U'GERUSHAH V'ZERA EIN LAH..."- "But if the Kohen's daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, [and has returned to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's bread (i.e. Terumah); but no stranger eat of it]" (Vayikra 22:13) - The daughter of a Kohen eats Terumah before she marries a non-Kohen, and after she becomes a widow or a divorcee and has no children from him.

10)[line 18]בצרותTZAROS (YIBUM: TZARAS ERVAH)

(a)When a man dies childless and his wife is an Ervah to the Yavam, she does not fall to Yibum and as such she is exempt from the Mitzvos of Yibum and Chalitzah. She may marry whomever she pleases, immediately. Chazal teach (Yevamos 3b, 8a) that not only is the Ervah exempt from Yibum and Chalitzah, but also her Tzarah, the second wife of the deceased. (However, if there are other Yevamim (brothers of the deceased) to whom she is not prohibited because of an Isur Ervah, the two women may not get married until one of the Yevamim performs Yibum or Chalitzah with one of the wives of the deceased.) There are fifteen such cases of Ervah that exempt the other wife or wives from Yibum.

(b)The previous opinion is the opinion of Beis Hillel, which is the Halachah. Beis Shamai, however, rules that a Tzaras Ervah is not exempt from performing Yibum or Chalitzah. As a result, the Tzaras Ervah who marries whomever she wants according to the opinion of Beis Hillel transgresses the prohibition of Yevamah la'Shuk according to Beis Shamai (see Background to Kidushin 67:6). On the other hand, if she performs Yibum according to the opinion of Beis Shamai, she transgresses the prohibition of marrying her husband's paternal brother according to the opinion of Beis Hillel, and all of her children from this union will be Mamzerim.

11)[line 25]שנטמעוSHE'NITME'U- that were mixed in with them

12)[line 26]"ויעשו להם מקצותם כהני במות""VA'YA'ASU LAHEM MIKTZOSAM KOHANEI BAMOS..." - "[And the Avim made Nichvaz and Tirtak (gods in the forms of a dog and a donkey, respectively), whereas the Sefarvayim burned their sons in fire to Adarmelech and Anamelech (gods in the forms of a mule and a horse, respectively), the gods of Sefarvayim. And they feared HaSh-m,] and they appointed some of them priests of the Bamos, [and they proceeded to perform their own worship in their temples]" (Melachim II 17:31-32) (THE KUSIM AND THEIR FRIENDS)

(a)It was Sancheriv's practice to exile nations that he captured to foreign lands, where they would not feel at home and find it difficult to rebel. After expelling the inhabitants of Shomron (the northern kingdom of Yisrael) to Ashur, he sent exiles from Kuta, from Bavel and from other countries that he captured to Shomron. These Nochrim, who knew nothing about the Kedushah of Eretz Yisrael, continued with their idolatrous practices, as they had in their home towns. HaSh-m sent a plague of lions, which wrought havoc among the idolaters.

(b)Sancheriv reacted by sending a Kohen from among the exiles of Shomron, with instructions to teach the foreigners how to worship the G-d of the Land. The Kohen, however, who had himself been a priest of the Bamos, taught them about the fear of HaSh-m, but not only did he fail to persuade them to give up their idolatrous practices, he actually joined them. Unfortunately, that was the situation in Yisrael that prevailed. The Kusim, who converted, somehow feared HaSh-m, but without relinquishing their idolatrous practices, each group according to the customs that they had learned before being exiled. They knew about the Torah's prohibition against worshipping idols, but they chose to ignore it.

13)[line 27]מן הקוצים שבעםMIN HA'KOTZIM SHEBA'AM- (a) from the "thorns," or waste, of the nation; (b) from those set aside from the nation because of their impure lineage (from the word "Muktzah" - "set aside")

14)[line 32]הבחיריםHA'BECHIRIM- the choicest

15)[last line]שהיו מייבמים את הארוסותSHE'HAYU MEYABMIM ES HA'ARUSOS- who ruled that [only] women who were betrothed when their husbands died childless needed to perform Yibum or Chalitzah [and not married women, as the Gemara below (Daf 76a) explains]